In 1958, Su He, a worker at a cotton mill, opened her eyes to find herself an unlucky wife whose gambling-addict husband had drained the family's savings. Three younger siblings, gaunt with hunger, lay on the kang.
She divorced, moved, got a job at the factory, and weathered the gossip, starting out with a grain jar nearly empty and three dependents in tow. Luckily, she now had a space where she could grow and store things. She saved potatoes, sweet potatoes, and eggs little by little, then traded them bit by bit, turning watery gruel into thick porridge and replacing the little rented house with a dormitory at the factory.
The neighbors kept an eye on the rice in her pot, her ex-husband watched the ration coupons in her hands, and the gossipy women watched the children's complexions. Su He dealt with them all while steadily improving their lives.
From keeping her three younger siblings fed to building up a nest egg, she spent the winter of 1958 warmer than anyone.
